Friday, May 1, 2009

Back to the game of musical chairs being played on 7th Street these days, it’s not just businesses that have been coming and going. People are moving out, too. And today, weirdly enough, actor Ryan Gosling was there to give them a hand.

Word on the street is he's doing research for a new movie called Blue Valentine in which he plays the part of a mover. (His co-star is Michelle Williams.) So he’s traveling around town with Steinway Movers, lugging furniture and boxes in and out of a big red and yellow truck. (Steinway, by the way, has been moving the city since 1926.)

He found a fan in Susan, the lady with the walker who sits outside Howdy-Do most days. She’s been in the neighborhood for 60 years and welcomed Ryan with a bouquet of pink roses.

An apparently warm and affable guy, he posed for pictures with Susan, at her request, asking her, “We didn’t disturb you here, did we?”

When was the last time you heard a visitor to the East Village ask that question of a long-time resident?